A COST OF RECEIVING SPERM IN THE FEMALE FRUIT-FLY DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

Female Drosophila melanogaster mating exclusively with fertile, wild-type males had lower survival rates than females mating at the same total rate with a mixture of fertile and sterile (XO) males. This difference in survival was apparent in the absence of any significant differences in mating frequency, nutrition, egg-deposition or egg-hatchability between the groups of females exposed to different types of males, suggesting that receiving sperm may be a cost of reproductive activity.